


Lonely Hearts Club

by EndingsNotTheStory



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Even Bech Næsheim and Isak Valtersen Meet Differently, Alternate Universe - Radio, Closeted Character, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Isak Valtersen, Pining, isak is kinda lying to everyone whoops, radio show au, they do a show on twitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:15:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28180785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndingsNotTheStory/pseuds/EndingsNotTheStory
Summary: The Hearts Club. A show run by Isak and his 3 friends. He's kind of had enough with hearing about people's relationship issues and giving advice. Until the guy from his theatre class and Isak's totally not crush Even calls, dealing with relationship issues.
Relationships: Even Bech Næsheim/Isak Valtersen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was my NaNo work for 2020 :) never written for Skam before but I am hoping to continue doing it. Updates should be weekly if I am on track.

The Hearts Club title was lit up on the back of the wall. A light neon pink color in a swirly font that Isak Valtersen would rather die than look at again. Horrendous font design if you were to ask him. However, here he was having to look at it again and again once a week every week. The same font.

He knew he should be paying attention. The 2 hour radio show live stream that aired on Fridays at 18:00 to 20:00, that he hosted. Well co hosted really. Run by him and his 3 friends, wherein 2, Magnus and Isak, would give advice. Love advice.

In Isak’s own personal opinion, he had no clue why anyone would call just to hear 17 year olds give romance advice. Isak looked down only to see the pencil next to him and the pad of paper in front of him, where he was supposed to be taking notes about the caller. Instead, he sent his time trying to distract himself from looking at the microphone in front of him, or paying attention to what was playing through his headphones.

Alternatively, he had no clue why anyone would go on Twitch for a love advice stream. But what started out as a little joke between them grew into a semi popular stream over the course of six months. God. Doing this on a platform with predominantly gamers. Kill him now.

He was vaguely attentive to what was going on. Something about a girl in her mid 20s having relationship issues with her boyfriend who was cheating on her. He immediately had let Magnus take it over, not wishing to give advice right now. His microphone was turned off and he looked in front of him where Magnus was scribbling down notes with his pencil and listening to every word the girl said. He looked like he was savoring it, and he probably was doing just that.

In an act of boredom, he vaguely grabbed the pencil in front of him and balanced it between his fingers, tapping it lightly on the table. He did not want it to be picked up by the microphone, and have the listeners hear it, but he was just so bored. The clock above him read 19:40. He had 20 minutes left. 20 Minutes to figure out what it was he was doing. The girl kept on talking about her relationship. Magnus seemed very entertained in whatever the girl had to say, but Isak did not care if he was being honest. He just wanted to go home and take a nap. Or be doing something else on a Friday night.

Isak could be doing anything else, such as homework, or even at a party. Although the party might not be the best idea. He had to listen to the boys talk about girls enough as it is. But with a horde of girls around them? The conversing about them would never cease. That was something Isak could not deal with. He didn’t like talking about girls at all. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he liked girls.

But also there was no way he could ever say that. No one even knew. Well, possibly except Eskild, but he was not ready to open up that coffin yet.

Fuck. A Twitch live stream should not be the time to have a crisis.

He kept getting lost into his own thoughts, not paying attention until he heard a small and quiet cough. He looked up only to look up and see Jonas staring directly at him.

Jonas was leaning over the table on the other side of the glass wall. His main job was the setup and monitoring of the entire ordeal. Mahdi was next to him and looked to be doing what looked like homework. Of course he was. Mahdi mostly ran music and the visuals of the stream, allowing him to do whatever he wished in between. Jonas was still looking at Isak straight in the eyes and raised his eyebrows at him. Giving him a confused look, he then tilted his head to the left, signaling Isak to look over. He snapped back to attention only to hear the woman over the speaker was finishing up talking, giving her thanks to whatever advice Magnus decided to give.

“Thank you so much, I will be sure to call back in with updates.”

“No problem, this is M with Hearts Club and we wish you a goodnight.”

Isak looked up at the time: 19:56. Yep. They were signing off. He made the decision then to turn his mic back on. He had to hide a yawn that was threatening to come out as he had already spent too long with the mic off as it is.

“Thank you for tuning into Hearts Club every Friday night from 18:00 to 20:00 this is M,”

“And this is I,” Isak said quickly, in as chirpy of a voice he could make at this time of night.

“And have a good night.”

They both said the last part together. It was a bit rough at first but they managed to get on the same timing for the last word. Mahdi then quickly turned on the music and switched the visuals to the end stream visual they had chosen and Isak allowed himself to get lost in the lofi that started playing through the headphones and speaker around the room as he turned off his mic. He hung up his headphones quickly and looked up only to see Magnus still sitting in the chair, groaning.

“God that was long,” he groaned to mostly himself, before finally sitting up and making his way up off of the chair he was in. 

Isak just gave him a small nod before opening the door to enter the side of the room Jonas and Mahdi were sitting in. Mahdi looked to be putting away whatever homework he was working on. While Jonas looked to be spaced out, that is until Isak walked all the way in as did Magnus, shutting the door lightly behind them.  
Jonas waltzed up to Isak and slapped him on the back “dude are you okay?”

Isak looked up at Jonas next to him, who gave him a comforting smile in his direction. Isak sighed lightly “yeah just didn’t get a wink of sleep.” 

Although his normal sleeping patterns no one would consider good anyways.

Jonas seemed to take that as an okay answer, as Magnus grabbed his bag off of the chair in the room.

“Man, I wish we chose any other night to do this shit. I mean think of the parties we are missing.” Magnus groaned to himself.

The rest of the boys just nodded to that and continued on. Isak was just thankful that it was at that time, thus they didn’t go to parties every week. Isak only had so many excuses up his sleeve to not go to parties, especially as he did not entirely want to waste out on a night hanging out with his friends. They could make memories that could last forever without him if he wasn’t careful.

Jonas took the time to log onto his Instagram to see what anyone had posted. He looked at Eva’s story and groaned. The other boys looked quizzically at him as he turned his phone to let them see.

Yep. There on her story was what looked to be them and the rest of the girls on her story. They seemed to be over at some party, probably one of the boys that they just happened to run into in one of their classes. The story continued with shots of what seemed to be a crowded room, filled with people and loud music playing on the speakers.

“Wait, they look to be at Chris’s house I think. There was a party I heard someone in my Comm class talking about and I think I heard Chris’s name.”

“Which Chris?” Mahdi asked. The radio station wasn’t too far from female Chris’s house from the few times they had been over there for a pre party.

“Hell if I know,” Jonas states, still frowning down at his phone.

“You could ask,” Magnus said immediately. Isak just groaned. 

Jonas simply nodded and started typing on his phone. Before sighing “done.”

Isak smiled lightly at that while the other two boys cheered. They made their way out of the room, passing all the other small recording studios out there. Before waving goodbye to the girl at the front desk. But why anyone would take music classes at 20:00 at night Isak had no clue.

“So many parties lost,” Mahdi said looking off into the distance. The boys continued talking when suddenly the conversation turned to girls.

“Do you think there would be any hot chicks there,” Magnus asked the group.

“I mean all girls are attractive,” Jonas said, clearly not into the conversation. There was a buzz heard among them as he took out his phone.

“Yep, they are at female Chris’s, not Penetrator.”

The boys cheered while Magnus ran up a little.

“Come on, if we hurry we could make it and there could be some alcohol left, Mahdi you have that weed you kept in the back of Jonas’s car right?”

Mahdi nodded before picking up the pace to keep up with them.

“Well then that settles it, you guys coming?” Magnus asked.

Jonas took a second before Isak heard a “heck yeah,” coming from his right.

Jonas looked back down at his phone, only to notice that Eva had posted yet another thing onto her Instagram story. There on the screen was Penetrator Chris and Eva making out. The photo was blurry but looked to be taken as a selfie, possibly hurriedly put away before they got into other things in a more private place.

So that was why he wanted to go. Isak knew that Jonas’s breakup with Eva had hit him hard. They hadn’t discussed it much, but as far as Isak knew, he and Eva had never actually talked out what happened between the two of them. Which was lucky for Isak he guessed. The first breakup he did not want to talk about, he avoided the conversation almost as much as he possibly could.

He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go, but also he knew that he had no good excuse to not go. It was a Friday night. He had nothing to do immediately on a Friday night. Jonas was also the only one with a car. So, he made the decision he might as well go. When in doubt he could wait for a girl, say to the boys he would go do something with said girl, then dip. It seemed like a foolproof plan at this point to Isak. After all, he had been using it for the past 3 years or so. Or at least, whenever the boys made it their goal to find girls themselves, which at this point was almost every party.

So thus they made their way outside, over to Jonas’s 1999 Ford that his parents had gotten for him when he turned 18. It was a dark green color and was slowly but surely getting beaten up due to the amount of times it has been used, and Jonas’s own refusal to actually fix the car officially, saying he could fix it himself.

Isak hopped into the passenger seat, muttering “shotgun,” the second he got outside.

“How come he always gets shotgun?” Magnus whined slightly, but still got into the backseat. Mahdi chuckled at that “because you were the one who came up for us to do the shotgun rule in the first place.”

They all hopped into the car, as they sat there, the boys making small talk about the night while Jonas noisily turned on the car and they drove off.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a party is attended

The ride to Chris’s house was not meant to take long. Chris’s house was a good 15 minute drive or so. Isak sat in the front seat staring aimlessly out the window. He vaguely heard some rap song playing over the radio and into his ear, but he wasn’t really paying attention, regardless of Magnus continuously saying “turn it up.”.   
He was snapped out of his thoughts due to a sharp poke on his back, he turned around then, still dazed when Magnus smirked at him.

“Any girls you are hoping to see?”

Of course. It always seemed to be all about girls with them. And if he was being honest, no. There were no girls. Maybe a boy. But there was also no way in hell though that he was going to go down that rabbit hole. Especially not on a car ride on his way to a party.

“None that I can think of,” Isak said with a smirk. Anything to keep up the straight boy persona he had gathered over the years. He had heard the rumors. That Isak Valtersen was great at getting girls. Some rumors even spread around that he was great at sex. But in truth, he was a big virgin. Even a bigger virgin than Magnus if that was even possible.

But he was good at getting girls in some capacity, having gained a reputation in not being an ass whenever someone dumped him that is.

“Well for me, Vilde is always looking amazing.” Magnus said before any of the boys could get a word in otherwise.

But ah yes Vilde. Isak in his personal opinion did not think Vilde was his type. If girls were his type he didn’t think Vilde would be his type..

The rest of the boys just sighed dramatically.

“Yeah we know that,” Mahdi said, patting Magnus on the back in comfort.

Soon enough, the car came to a jeering halt. They were parked outside of the one story house. There was noise heard from the outside, and a hoard of people were laid outside, talking aimlessly. The penetrator parties always managed to gather large crowds at them.

Jonas continued driving, trying to find somewhere to park the car. They managed to parallel park -- horribly mind you -- and then Jonas quickly turned off the car and got out.

The rest of the boys got out as well, and then made their way to the house. The music of whatever trap music started increasing in volume. Crescendoing the closer they got to the house. Isak had to mentally prepare himself to even be able to go into the house, as to be honest he wasn’t really feeling it. He had homework he could be doing, and doing that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. But if he was being honest to himself he was not in the mood to do anything. He just wanted to get into bed, ignore everyone, maybe open up pornhub, and waste his days away.

It wasn’t perfect but it was his life at this point.

They continued through the door and just swung it open. Isak had no clue who the party was for, but it seemed like they were not necessarily keeping watch about who came in. The party was crowded at this point. Lucas checked his phone quickly, 20:40. Yeah the boys would probably want to stay there until late at night. Which was what Isak definitely did not want to do.

They barely made it through the door before a girl walked by the three of them. She stumbled slightly as she walked, but her large eyes stared directly at them.   
Directly at Isak. Isak averted his eyes quickly, not even wanting the girl to think he was even remotely interested.

“Isak that was to you,” Jonas said, excitedly tapping Isak’s shoulder. Isak just nodded, having no clue what it was the girl even did. He really was not in the mood for whatever the girl wanted in the first place.

“Hey, you don't have to go after her, but I just think you need some time and get a girl. You haven’t dated anyone since that girl our first year.” Jonas said softly, leaning in so Isak was the only one who could hear.

The gesture was sweet, but he was not in the mood. Isak knew he could say no. That he could probably say no and get off having to say anything with minimal reason. That in the end the boys wouldn't care. They would probably ask how he is doing and if everything was okay, but it would all go alright. Not the best, but alright.  
Isak was not okay with alright. He wanted things to be as great as they could be. Which meant get good grades, get a girl, marry a girl, start a family, get into a high paying job. That was what he had set up.

“No I am all good,” he said before following in the direction the girl was headed.

He strided away from the boys, who were cheering his name and words of encouragement his way.

It did not take long to see her, she leaned against the wall, drink in hand looking exactly in Isak’s direction.

A few strides more. Come on Isak, you can do it. The girl is interested in him, it shouldn’t be that hard to talk to a girl.

So he continued, and soon he was right in front of her.

“Hi.” 

It sounded small, not at all the manly facade he was attempting to uphold. Not even a sentence in and he already felt like he fucked it all up. Still the girl didn’t seem to mind, or notice.

“Hello, I am Amber,” she said. Her eyes were very obviously constantly darting down to Isak’s lips. Something that he was not comfortable with. Her lipstick may stain his lips, he thought. But no, that was not what he should be thinking about right now. He should be focused on the fact that this girl wants him.

“Isak,” he responded to her absentmindedly. He took his hand out and wrapped it around her glass. The red solo cup was now gripped in both of their hands, and Isak brought it up to his lips. Amber gave little to no resistance to the move she did as he drank a sip of the drink. It had a fruity taste that he was not the biggest fan of, but he assumed it could be used for his benefit. He took a longer drink before placing the cup back in her hands.

“And what are you doing here tonight?” he asked. Just what he needed. Some sort of alcohol. Some sort of alcohol that hopefully would calm his nerves. And calm his nerves it kind of did. He wasn’t drunk, but even the knowledge of the alcohol being in his system gave him a breath of confidence.

“Looking for someone new,” she said. Alright. Isak could do that. He was not sure if this was the best moment to find the girl to date. Not at a party on a night he was   
expecting to go home.

“Same,” he said vaguely. The girl took that as consent and then surged her lips forward. Isak let her and their lips crashed together. Isak breathing in her scent. It was a strong scent, smelling of some sort of perfume she must have doused herself with. But definitely not one he wanted to smell constantly. He vaguely noticed how she placed the cup behind him on a table, as they continued making out. He was sure he heard the cup fall, and a small part of his brain wanted to check to see if the cup had indeed fallen over, spilling the drink. The other part of his brain told him to not, so he didn’t.

The girl continued pushing the two of them closer and closer. Isak wanted to pull away. Even in his slightly inebriated state, his brain was still screaming how something was wrong. The idea of her lips all over him nearly sent a shiver down his spine. He did not want to take this further. They passed the people who let out noises of annoyance at the two making out and stumbling as they attempted to walk. They continued up the stairs and she pushed open a door behind her clumsily, leading them into a room. The room was just as noisy, with people all around them, but Amber obviously did not care for that much, as she just continued. They ended up slamming against the wall, spinning around so Isak was on the bottom, back against the wall. He winced a little at the impact but continued on. It wasn’t until he felt her lips move. Down his neck. That he got scared, The more she kissed his neck the less he enjoyed it, he really did not want this if he was being honest. Suddenly all he could think about was the sound of her wet lips smacking.

Noises got louder. Senses were heightened. The people in the room got closer. Everything became a lot. Too much.

Then the need to flee hit. He had to get out now. He vaguely noticed how the loud smacking of lips was still against his. But he certainly was not having it. He felt a deep sinking feeling pool into his stomach.

He pushed her away. She stumbled back slightly, clearly drunk. She glared at him but he did not care that much.

“S-sorry,” he stumbled out before leaving. He had to get out. And he had to now. She looked confused and before he could let her say anything, he ran.

He stumbled out the door, before heading down the hallway. He had to move fast enough not to have someone ask him if he was okay, but also not slow enough that   
the boys ask him if everything is okay. Yeah everything is fine, if they left him alone. He honestly just did not want to deal with this. Did not want to hear anything. He just wanted to go home.

Out of the corner of his eyes he vaguely noticed a tall blond. He stood out from the crowd due to his height, Isak knew for a fact he knew the guy, but didn’t get a good enough look to firmly see his face. The emotions still threatened to come out in a fury as he quickly moved out of the house.  
Stumbling outside, he didn’t think anyone who knew him saw him. The party was noisy. All the sounds just were too much for him to deal with. So he ignored it. And took his way outside.

Outside it was not as bad. The noise from the party had faded slightly. Which Isak was grateful for. There weren't nearly as many people outside as inside. Meaning he could take a breather. Isak continued walking, allowing the people and noises of the party to fade into obscurity. He walked a little bit to the corner of the sidewalk. Before taking a sit down. He breathed through his nose loudly. Then rubbed his neck, lips, everywhere her lips had touched him. He still felt the sting of them. He hadn’t even checked his camera on the phone to see if anything was left on his skin. He knew she wore a bright red lipstick, but he had no clue how he looked or if any of it came off on his body.

Quickly, Isak pulled out his phone, intending to get a way out. Eskild. Eskild should be home by this point. Isak was glad Eskild rarely went out unless it was to get a hookup. And Lucas prayed that Eskild was home, or at least had his phone on.  
Isak first was met with his face on the black screen of his phone. He stared back at himself, at himself with bags under his eyes and his hair slightly messed up. He needed a haircut, he thought absentmindedly.

He decided not to dwell on his appearance for too long as he quickly opened his phone and went onto contacts, scrolling quickly until he found Eskild’s number.  
He pressed the call button and waited. Then waited. Then he waited some more. Until finally it picked up.

“Fuck yeah,” he muttered to himself before raising the phone to his ear.

“Yes Kitten?” Eskild’s voice rang through. Isak could vaguely notice how Eskild did sound slightly annoyed by his tone of voice, but decided to ignore it and just continue speaking.

“I need you to pick me up,” Isak said, trying to sound as nice as possible for once.

“From where?”

“Chris’s.”

Isak hoped that Eskild knew where that was. Noora had gone to Chris’s enough time for Isak to hope so at least. The line went silent for a moment though, before Eskild’s voice was heard.

“Yeah, I guess I can pick you up, if you agree to finally clean your room and do the dishes.”

Of course there was a catch. And his room was not actually that messy. It had some clothes over, but it was definitely not as bad as it could be. Isak grumbled under his breath. When Eskild coughed slightly, Isak guessed he had heard him. He had sighed loudly then.

“Okay,” he said. Anything to get a ride. He really did not want to deal with whatever Eskild had, but also he would be his only bet. He didn’t know how long the others would be there for. And he was not about to risk him with him just having to wait outside until they were ready to leave.  
Soon enough, a loud old car was heard. His old dingy blue car pulled up and honked loudly at him, causing Isak to glare before standing up and hopping into the front seat.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

Eskild just scoffed lightly, “I had a grindr hookup but my baby roommate called, and priorities.”

Isak tried to hide the small smile that formed. 

“Just drive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,,,, updating weekly was a lie. I am indeed hoping to start updating more often, and hopefully cutting down some of the later chapters which in the editing phase are still 6k+ 
> 
> Happy New Year to everyone and I hope everyone is doing alright :)


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A theatre class and an introduction of a certain someone that Isak finally has the chance to talk to

**Sunday**

The rest of the weekend went about as well as Isak hoped. 

It was quiet mostly, until suddenly his phone buzzed.

**Jonas:** Is anyone still dealing with a massive hangover   
**Mahdi:** It is Sunday?? What? Who would be?   
**Jonas** :.....   
**Magnus** : I am not. Isak must be though as he has been MIA for the past day  
 **Jonas** :   
Yeah, Isak, you doing okay??  
**Mahdi:** How did it go with the girl? 

Isak grimaced, knowing he would have to respond to the boys at some point before Monday hit or else they would be asking him in person. 10:13 his phone read. That gave him less than 24 hours to respond to them. He took a deep breath to himself. He could always reword and rework messages he guessed. 

**Isak** : Ha? Amber? It was good   
**Magnus:** So you got some??  
 **Mahdi:** Did you get some with Vilde?  
**Jonas** : ouch, harsh  
**Magnus** : Not the point here   
**Magnus:** Isak?   
**Isak:** ha! Amber?? Yeah I did  
 **Magnus:** AYYY ISAK   
**Mahdi:** Good job man   
**Jonas:** Yeah congrats  
 **Magnus** : So,,, any other details?  
 **Mahdi** : I wasn't gonna ask, but since Magnus did,,, Any?  
 **Isak:** A man does not kiss and tell  
 **Magnus** : awww come on   
**Mahdi:** Dude??!!  
 **Jonas:** ha! That's my Isak. Doesn't kiss and tell

Isak let the messages continue. He wanted to laugh at the boys' continued disappointment in him not saying anything, but also he didn't know what to say. He couldn't just explain what had happened with a girl. When really nothing DID happen. So he would just let the boys continue on in their messages. They probably thought he had gotten a blowjob or something. But nope, he had done nothing. Which to Isak was just fine.

Isak groaned and threw himself onto his bed. Spending the entirety of Saturday acting like he had a hangover and locking his door was probably not smart. He knew better. Eskild probably knew he didn't have a hangover. But Isak kind of wished he had drank more, in order to have a hangover. Hangovers always sucked, but they would allow him to forget talking to people. He needed all of Sunday to just rest and do nothing. Which was exactly what he was planning on doing.

He went over and shut the yellow curtains closed before flopping down onto bed, fully prepared to just let sleep overtake him.

Before he was able to take a solid nap though, a harsh rap on his door rang through his ears. 

"Kitten? Isak Kitten? I brought you some water." Eskild. Of course. Isak was surprised he managed to even get a day without Eskild bothering him. He groaned audibly. 

"Go away," he let out. He really did not want Eskild bothering him right now. If he was being honest, he did have biology homework he should be doing. But also that was not what he wanted to do right now. He just wanted to sleep. 

"Kitten, you haven't left that room since you got back. What happened?"

Isak knew Eskild meant well. He knew Eskild did not mean whatever it was he was insinuating. Hell, if any of his friends acted like he was he would be worried as well. But hey, call him hypocritical all you wanted. 

He still did not want to say anything to Eskild.

"Nothing." 

"Isak, please," Eskild begged softly.

"I just had some wild sex and the girl left me okay??" Okay. That was the last thing that he expected to be saying. He wadn't even aware of what he was saying until the words had left his mouth. That sounded way too crude for his own liking but it did indeed send Eskild into silence. Or at least, it was silent on the other end of the door.

"Alright kiddo. That really sucks Isak. I am here if you need anything though."

That hurt. Eskild sounded kind of hurt by what Isak had said. And yeah, it did make Isak seem like he had gotten his heart broken. Which was not his goal in the slightest. But he guessed it worked. Balancing lies about the girl was not Isak's plan. He would rather just forget her. He didn't even get her last name. Or what school she went to. Internally, Isak hoped that she went to a different school; that one of her friends went to the party and invited her to come along. Isak did not know how realistic that was, but it was what he was going for himself mentally.

He debated on turning on his phone and just scrolling mindlessly through Instagram, but knew it would just be bombarded with messages from people asking him if he was alright. 

The MMJI group chat went off all the time, always buzzing. It was great that his friends all got along, but it was also considerably annoying when he was exhausted. He could still hear the buzz of his phone going off.

Instead of checking to see what other messages he shut off his phone. Then rolled back over and then let sleep consume hi

**Monday**

Isak woke up on Monday still exhausted. 

He had slept mostly through the night. But now getting to school, he kept yawning constantly while also trying to keep his yawns to a minimum as to not have his teachers think he was not paying attention. 

Although, mind you, he was definitely not paying attention one bit. 

Currently in school, he was standing around by his locker waiting for his next class. He was staring into space, which just so happened to be aligned with some girls right across from him. But really, he was not at all looking at the girls. He was more focused on just thinking. Not even thinking about anything in particular. He wasn't thinking about anything enjoyable, just letting tiredness wipe over him. 

He was thrown out of that from the loud ring of the bell for next class. What time? 15:00?? Oh. Theatre. That's right. Isak Valtersen. In theatre.

He initially had 0 intention on taking the class. But when he was talking with his advisor, she said that to graduate he would need a fine arts class. Now art class Isak would typically just join some painting class. Bullshit his way through a shitty painting, wherein he would probably have followed a painting tutorial, and then boom, easy passing grade. But nope, here he was in a theatre class. 

He had initially joined it because Vilde and Chris were going to. Scratch that. He joined it because Magnus found out Vilde was joining. 

So Isak, because Magnus had begged them for hours to join the class and definitely not because he just wanted a class with a person he was close to.

And now here he was alone. First day of school hit with the boys' excuses of the class being full, or it conflicting with their oh so specific schedules. 

So here he was, with Vilde and Chris in a theatre class. With them not necessarily talking to him all the time as they took this class way too seriously in Isak's humble opinion.

He entered the classroom, a small classroom used for math class. With calculations still plastered all over the board. The school didn't have the exact funding to have a whole stage to use all the time. As it was mostly connected to the gym. 

Meaning they most certainly did not get an actual stage. Which Isak was not mad about. But also it left a good 16 students with a newly hired drama teacher in a small classroom, that they often cleared out of the way to work. 

However, it was also the calculus teacher. Mr. Bisset, who finally gets to live out his supposed lifelong dreams of being a theatre teacher. 

With Isak now in his class. Isak groaned and grabbed a chair as far back as he could. He vaguely realized Chris and Vilde over in the corner, chatting with each other. Chris and him made eye contact and her smile widened as she waved to him. 

Isak tried to give her a genuine smile back, which probably ended up looking sarcastic, and waved back. He vividly remembered Chris's not too subtle crush on him the previous year, and was not sure if she still harbored those same feelings for him. 

The world suddenly faded away when a tall figure walked into the room, despite his height, he entered the room silently, but Isak noticed him immediately. Even Bech Naesheim. The third year transfer student who decided to join the club. 

Isak could hear him speak out a "sorry about that," to the teacher for being late. Before taking a seat in the back, right across the room from Isak.

Even slung his brown bag next to him, and looked up at the teacher. Isak could no longer pay attention. Even when Mr. Bisset made some sort of noise getting the students attention, Isak's attention was elsewhere. Elsewhere was Even. 

He wore the same jean jacket that he always seemed to wear. It was not the most attractive look, but to Isak? It was the most beautiful way someone has ever dressed. Isak time and time again had thought about asking Even where he got the jacket. Isak rationalized this with himself that he wanted to ask because he wanted a jacket similar to that one. But internally, Isak knew better. He just wanted to talk to the older boy.

Despite being in the same theatre class, Isak and Even had never actually spoken to each other. Which Isak happened to find quite ironic. Ever since the 2nd month of school when the tall boy entered the class for the first time, Isak immediately became transfixed, and spent the entirety of theatre to glance at Even periodically. The class only being on Monday made things easy for him as he didn't have to go that often, but it also took away time that he could see Even. Isak had been seeing him everywhere ever since he transferred, but couldn't talk to Even outside of class without making it weird. Although it wasn't like Isak had ever uttered a single word to Even even though they were in the same class.

At this point without talking to Even, Isak greatly wished to skip this class. It was nothing like what he wanted. He knew it would look good, and it did count towards his grade, but the purpose of it was still lost to him. Still, he continued on in the class. 

"Valtersen," Mr. Bisset suddenly rang out. 

Isak almost jumped in his own seat at the sound of his own name. But here he was. He mumbled out a "yes sir."

"Thank you, please pay attention."

Uh oh. That was never good. Isak spent the majority of time when they were not performing just staring off into space or looking at Even. It wasn't like he wasn't good at theatre and could actually do great if he wanted to. He was just really not in the mood to be doing anything at the moment.

But the teacher gathered everyone's attention. That was not a good sign. Isak noticed the teacher calling out names of other students who seemed to not be paying attention as well. Thus there might be some sort of announcement. Isak couldn't care less, but also? He knew in order to get his stupid arts credit Mr. Bisset would have to pass him. Meaning he would have to do okay. 

"Now that I should have everyone's attention, we are going to be doing partner scenes. Please pick a partner and choose a scene. Performances in six weeks."

Well. That was something. Isak sat there stunned. He really did not want to do this. 

He immediately turned to see other's reactions. Some people were immediately getting together with their friends to talk. While other people were sitting around awkwardly. Isak immediately looked over to Chris and Vilde, who were talking. Shit. They were certainly partnering up. Isak wondered briefly if he could join them and they could be a group of three, but Isak knew that that chance was slim. Bisset meant exactly what he said. If he didn't say it, it did not count.

Isak's eyebrows furrowed in slight anger before he heard a female voice from next to him, and he whipped his head around. 

In front of him was a girl with short brown hair. She seemed nice. But Isak already had a small idea of what she was saying. 

"Hi, Isak," her voice was high pitched and soft. She seemed nice. But oh. She was indeed talking to him. And Isak really did not want to deal with this right now. Not in this situation. "Yes?" He tried to sound nice. But it probably sounded annoyed. Even to his own ears he sounded annoyed. Which he really did not want to happen. She seemed like an okay girl, at the time. But he really was not in the mood. 

"I was wondering if you would like to," she took a deep breath. Even as she was speaking, her voice was interrupted with her own slight stutters. Isak suddenly realized she had begun talking again. "To be my partner on the scene?"

Yep. there it was. Isak had no clue how to say no to her. He just did not want to work with her. Even if Isak saw nothing wrong with her, he didn't want to work with her. He would rather work with no one if he was being honest. Even if the project was indeed explicitly a partner work. 

"Sorry, I was actually already promising someone to work with me on the assignment. Sorry."

"Who?" The girl quickly jumped onto that train, narrowing her eyes at him.

Of course she would retaliate. There it was. Isak kind of knew it was not going to be that easy. Even if he wanted to back out on this, he was not sure if he could because she would wonder why he lied. But here he was. Not knowing what to say. 

He coughed, trying to buy himself some time. 

"With, with," shit he had no clue who to say. He had nothing to say. He didn't have anyone. No one was coming to mind. 

"Me."

Oh. He heard a voice behind him. A male voice behind him. Wait a second, he had heard that voice before. Not ever once to him though. But it had sounded like. 

"I am Even," the voice behind him said. The same voice. Even Bech Naesheim. Even Bech Naesheim just covered for him. 

Isak was doing his best to keep his shock to a minimum. He really did not want to deal with this. He could almost feel his face heat up. Scratch that, his face probably was heating up. Even Bech Naesheim was next to him. Saying how he was his partner for this project. And okay, Isak could deal with that. So here he was. 

"Yeah, Even is my partner, sorry." The girl just darted her eyes between the two of them before shrugging. "I will just find someone else." And then? She was out of sight. 

Isak could finally allow himself to let out a large exhale at that. He was freed. He did not have to deal with her again, well at least for today. He watched her go over to another girl before the girl patted her on her back. Oh. So she would have someone else to work with. Isak saw that as a good thing at the very least. But now the question came to him: what would he do about Even? What did Even even want to do about this situation they were now in?

"I hope that was okay," the voice still behind him said. His voice was small, as if not knowing if Isak would be okay with making him reject the girl. To Isak? How would he ever thank Even enough. He was just thankful he did not have to say anything to the girl. He was saved by a highly confusing situation. 

"Yeah that was okay, so, project partners?" Isak made sure to highlight the word project. He did not want this to get confused. Or else he may get distracted by his own wants, if he would even admit they were wants. He just didn't want Even getting the wrong idea. 

"Yeah," Even said, smiling to Isak. Damn that smile. Isak would die due to that smile. 

No Isak, push those thoughts out of your mind. No use thinking about those things. 

"Well, we should have an idea of what to perform by next week, so then we should talk about it, okay?" Well. Even certainly knew what he was doing. But Isak internally didn't care. He felt a small blush rise to his cheeks. 

"Okay," Isak's voice immediately became smaller. Shit. He did not want to be this worked up.

Even smiled before grabbing out a notebook and tearing out a small corner of a sheet of paper.

He scribbled something down and handed it to Isak. Looking down it was a set of numbers written down with his name. Shit this was-- 

"My phone number. So we can communicate." 

"Uh huh." 

Valtersen speak correctly, he reprimanded himself at not being able to say much to Even. 

So here Isak was, getting Even Bech Naesheim's phone number in his hands, his hands shaking as he looked down at the slightly messy handwriting. 

"Well that is all for today," Mr. Bisset announced. Dismissing the people in the room. 

"If anyone still needs a partner let me know."

"Thank you, partner. Text me okay?" Even said before bouncing to his chair to grab his stuff and leave. 

Isak could only stare after him, mouth slightly open and twinged into a small smile. Oh god, did Isak have a partner for this project.

He stood there in the room, vaguely hearing the sound of shuffling feet leaving the room. Isak's stuff left alone as he stood in the back of the room, holding Even's number as delicately as he could, not wanting to smudge the numbers. 

He analyzed the words, analyzed the hand writing. Just looking at the paper in his hands. 

"Isak? You alright?"

Oh yeah. He was still in class. He looked up only for Mr. Bisset to be quirking his eyebrow at him, arms folding.

Isak looked around the room, only to notice how the room was empty, except for him and Mr. Bisset.

"Yeah I am good, uh, bye professor," Isak said quickly. Isak grabbed his stuff quickly and scurried out of the room. 

Yeah I am good. Maybe, just maybe. For once in what felt like years, Isak Valtersen was telling the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I finally am realizing how long these chapters end up being. But hey I am having a blast writing this and my Spotify inspiration playlist for the fic is all I listen to while writing it whoops.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a number in hand and a call into the radio show

**Wednesday**  
Isak spent the rest of Monday night spaced out. He didn’t know what to do. He had Even’s number in his hand. He continuously was looking at the piece of paper. Holding it gingerly, he was careful not to fold it. Even had written his number on a piece of torn out notebook paper, and there it was in his hands. 

Even Bech Næsheim xxx-xxx-xxxx

The handwriting was messy. But also readable enough that Isak was able to decipher what was written there. Isak at this moment wished he knew handwriting analysis just to know about the writing, and the person behind the writing. Even in the back of his mind the rational side of him knew that the thought was stupid, but the thought was still there.

He continued on staring at the paper.

And no, he had not messaged Even. He spent all Tuesday trying to hype himself up to actually message Even, but it was just not happening. He would constantly psych himself out. He had no clue why it was happening so much. Even probably was expecting him to message about the project. Thinking about it now, Isak thought it might have been smarter if Even had his number as well. Then at least it gave him options on what to do. But nope, it left it up to Isak to do it. All by himself. Before he was even aware of what he was doing, iMessage was open.

**Isak:** Hey Even

Nope. Not the best way to start. ]

**Isak:** Hey Even it is Isak

Better but Isak was not sure if it was the best wording he could manage. It was not often that he had made friends, so he had no clue how to do it, Jonas was usually the one doing all the communicating, while Isak spent his time blending in with the background.

Deep breaths Isak. Deep breaths.

He had no clue what else there was to say. So he hit send before he could psych himself out once again. There. No taking it back now. He could not take it back. Isak let out a breath he was holding then, and allowed it to exhale out of his mouth. He hit send and there was his soul. He felt like his soul had been open. He had no clue what to do.

He threw his phone onto the bed. Isak knew himself well enough, he would keep looking at it and looking at it and looking at it.

Alright, that is enough. He continued on. He flopped onto his bed and looked up to the ceiling. He did not know what to do now. He had some work to do for biology, but Sana probably knew what to do so he could just message her. Yes he knew he was making some shitty excuses for himself. But he didn’t know anything else.

Buzz. He heard a buzz. His phone buzzed.

Don’t look at the message Isak.

He looked

**Even:** Hey :) 

Okay. That was easy. An easy response. Isak felt like he could work with that.

**Isak:** Any ideas for the project?

**Even:** Nope :( I can find some though.

Alright, so the conversation was dry, Isak let himself get past that. He knew that an initial conversation would not be perfect.

Regardless, he still smiled. He wasn’t even sure why himself. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. And yes he knew that metaphor was overused, but it is what he felt like. He couldn’t help himself.

**Isak:** I can look too

Fuck. Now he would have to look. If Isak was being honest, he knew nothing about theatre. He didn’t know how to find scripts or anything. But here he was. So he let it go. He did not know what he wanted to do about that. He could always message Eva. She had a theatre phase to at least some extent, or at the least she was in the class so she would know exactly what he was looking for. But he didn’t really want to ask her either. So he hoped Even would find something. He felt bad about it, but he would not want Even to realize he had no clue what he was doing in this class.

With the stress of finding a way to message Even out of the way, maybe Isak would get out of his head for once. He didn’t truly know why Even made him so nervous. This was the first time even messaging him. Before Monday he hadn’t even talked to him once, sure he was in the class but that was it. And here he was getting nervous over every message. He didn’t want it to mean what he thought it meant. Even though the voice in the back of Isak’s head knew exactly why. The voice which made Isak a bad person at times, his own jealousy and admiration. Admiration or crush Isak did not want to analyze it to figure which one it was. He just wanted to get to know Even at this point. Isak hoped he would not do a repeat of first year though, no more jealous Isak. Isak had locked that demon inside of its box anyways. And he kept it locked tight, refusing to let it out.

**Friday**

Friday arrived sooner than Isak wanted to admit. The time seemed to slow down with Even not texting him once. Isak debated on messaging him himself at this point. He hadn’t seen Even around school either, as outside of theatre their daily lives never seemed to coincide with each other.

After the last bell, Isak stood leaning against his locker. He usually met the rest of the boys after class and they would hang out until Hearts Club started. It became a tradition ever since they started the show. 

The rest of the boys typically took a good 10-20 minutes to even get over there. Isak never minded waiting, despite acting like he hated it. At least they were consistently late. Isak could not think of a single time Magnus was ever on time. He checked the time though: 1530, a good 10 minutes before anyone would come over typically.

“Hey there,” a voice said behind him. 

Even. Behind him again. In school and outside of theatre.

“Oh hello,” Isak said shyly. He was not prepared for Even to say anything to him in school ever. He wore his same jean jacket with a grey sweater under it. He looked the same as always, but to Isak he looked amazing. 

“Now I was thinking about the theatre project,” Even said excitedly.

Oh. Partner project. Isak had to remind himself that that was why they were talking at all. He knew Even was a third year, he would be graduating at the end of the school year. Without this class Isak doubted Even would ever see him. Without the project Even probably would never have spoken to him.

“What about it?” Isak asked, doing his best to sound interested. He was not actually interested in the project itself much. He was however interested in doing the project with Even.

“For the scene, concept. You, me, Romeo and Juliet.”

Romeo and Juliet. Isak’s knowledge of Romeo and Juliet was limited at best. He knew it was by Shakespeare. And that some friends read it before for a class. That was it. Also the basic plot elements. Nothing nearly to tell anyone a single line from the show or any other characters other than the titular two. 

“Yeah! That sounds good,” Isak said. He debated on telling Even he didn’t know anything about Romeo and Juliet. He would have to find something out about it anyways if they were to be doing a scene of it together.

“Great, we could do a Romeo and Mercutio scene,” Even said. And Isak really only understood Romeo.

“Huh?”

Shit. He couldn’t help the confusion slipping through.

“Mercutio and Romeo. Wait,” Even paused. And oh god here it came. Isak was not in the mood for this. It was going so well too. “You don’t know much about Romeo and Juliet do you?”

Isak shook his head. Even gave a dramatic mock gasp, grasping his chest in over exaggerated shock.

“Well in that case, I must educate you. Expect links tonight,” Isak had no idea what Even meant by links involving Romeo and Juliet but he guessed he would just have to see. Isak was about to ask before he heard a phone buzz, not feeling the vibration in his hand, he assumed it was from Even’s phone. 

Even grabbed the phone out of his pocket. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath before looking up at Isak. ‘Sorry, I have to get going, expect links,” he shouted as he bounded off.

Isak gave a little wave after him then. Watching as his back turned away from Isak.

When Even was out of his sight, he continued looking at his phone. And he heard his friends before he saw them.

Magnus was not known for being quiet, and he could hear them laughing as they came up to him.

“Hey Isak,” Jonas said, coming up to him and patting his back, Isak gave a small “hey man,” back to him as well.

“Well, Jonas’s car is out front, let’s go? Fifa?” Magnus said as he headed in the general direction of Jonas’s car, leaving no time to actually hang around. Even though they had quite a few hours until everything went on for the night. Isak just sighed as the other boys followed him.

They spent the time before the show just hanging out. They had ordered pizza and played Fifa. Just a typical night. It was times like these that Isak honestly forgot all about the radio show at times. Sure it was something they did, but Isak did not really notice it that much. It was just a thing that happened between them  
While the drive to the music studio was not long, Isak knew they had to set everything up. He was grateful that Mahdi played the clarinet. They always made fun of Mahdi for actually teaching younger kids instruments, but he seemed like he enjoyed it and it got him a considerably stable job for the time being, so he continued it. Now here they were. Not many of the people there knew about the show. Really just the other employees knew.

Isak then sat there, post finishing their set up. Set up often took a good half hour to do, and now Isak could just wait until the show. Jonas soon called 5 minutes and the time seemed to speed by from there. Then? The show commenced.

The first half hour nothing particularly exciting went down. A few couples arguments, and even a few people calling about new found friendships. Sure they had started the live show initially about relationships, but now it just ended up being a stream on twitch. Yes Jonas often made comments about how they were streamers but Isak did not care. It was advertised as a relationship talk show, but now they had callers for everything. Some people even heard Magnus talk about Fifa and a few people had gotten them to start talking about gaming tips. Isak typically tried to step in, and Magnus would typically leave Isak to talk while Magnus locked the door so Jonas could not barge in and start speaking about the subject. They continuously would make jokes about Magnus’s inherent lack of knowledge for playing the games, but the people didn’t seem to care.

For today? They heard nothing super interesting. Until 48 minutes in, when he heard Magnus make the announcement.

“Alright we have a caller in, hello you are on the Hearts Club.”

“Um, hi? I am a recent listener but I decided to call in,” a deep voice said.

Wait. Isak knew that voice. That voice had spoken to him before. That voice had spoken to him less than 24 hours ago after class. That couldn’t be.

“Yes feel free to say whatever Mr--” Magnus said, clearly not as affected as Isak.

“Even.”

Yep. That cemented it. Even Bech Naesheim was calling to the Hearts Club. For advice. Isak was suddenly so grateful they were using some voice modulators. He had made fun of Jonas for suggesting it and then using it, but if he could kiss Jonas he would. In a no homo way. More of a thank you for saving my life type of way.  
“Yes, Even. Me and Is are here for whatever advice you may need so feel free to say anything.”

“Yes, I have been dating this girl for four years and we have been having some relationship problems.”

Dating. Girl. Isak could barely think of anything other than those words. Of course Even was straight. And how could he be having relationship problems? Isak listened intently, as much as he could, trying to shove all the thoughts he had in his head away from the current situation battling in his head.

“We recently have been having more and more arguments, and I simply do not think that the relationship is working out. I am worried that I am falling out of love with her.”

Falling out of love. Isak listened to this carefully. This meant he had a chance.

Wait Isak. Straight.

Isak kept on having to remind himself again and again that this was his friend he was talking about. Not even a friend, an acquaintance at best. Isak wanted to see if Even would say anything else but he stayed quiet. Isak wanted nothing more than to give Even advice. His advice. 

But everytime he tried to say a single word, his mouth went dry. He had nothing he could think about saying. All the words he wanted to say a split second ago had vanished, leaving Magnus to answer instead.

“Well, I think you should think about what you want. Her happiness cannot be the sole goal of your own happiness.”

Alright. Isak could take this advice.

“Oh, thank you, I will be sure to do that. Sorry I don’t talk about my issues with her to anyone really.”

“No problem.” 

Wait. That couldn’t be it. It couldn’t be over just like that. The calls usually lasted more than a solid 2 minutes. Feeling his own voice clear up, in a haste decision Isak quickly spoke into the mic.

“Anytime, and remember Even feel free to call in with updates or for any advice every Friday at 2200, there is also our email.”

The words rushed out of his mouth quickly. Isak was surprised by himself and how fast he said them, and he could just pray that Even heard them.

“Oh, thank you I will.” And then Even hung up.

The studio was silent for a moment. The boys were looking at Isak as if he had lost it, and who knew maybe he had. See, Isak swore not to meddle in relationships ever again after what happened with Jonas and Emma. But this was Even. Isak didn’t have what a small part of his brain had pointed out as a crush on him. This wasn’t hurting the relationship. This was advice. From an advice channel. That is what it was. Nothing more nothing less. Even wasn’t a friend. Now he was a client and project partner.

And that is what Isak had told himself as he let the noises of the radio show go on around him, making sure to add in his own points, definitely talking a lot more than usual as his mood was soaring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm, so it has been over a month. Time really flies huh. Life got really wild for me back in late January but I finally had time to sit down and write. My Spotify playlist is really going. But the title of the fic and the main song that led to me writing this isn't on Spotify which is the saddest thing. But after 10k we are finally getting into where things get complicated for Isak's life.


End file.
